MELBOURNE great Jim Stynes has lauded the debut of Essendon's first Irish player Michael Quinn.

Stynes said Quinn's ability to play at the highest level in such a quick timeframe should not be underestimated.

"It's pretty phenomenal," the Melbourne president said on Monday.

"The game has changed a lot in the last 10 years and it [really suits Irish] players who can kick short and kick well and maintain possession – that's where the game has gone.”

Quinn was officially drafted via last December's NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Stynes said Irish players were adapting to the game much better than when he arrived at the Demons in the early 1980s.

"It suiting more of these Irish guys – they've grown up with a possession game – and it seems to suit them height wise, whereas in the past they needed to be tall to make it," Stynes said, who confirmed he sent Quinn his best wishes before the Bomber's debut.

"Sean [Wight], Tadhg [Kennelly] and myself and a few others were tall, but those running players like Marty Clarke and others are starting to come in and they're picking up the basic skills quickly.

"Quinn and Marty Clarke are remarkable. They've just come into the game and they've just picked it up and hopefully they'll have long careers."

Stynes expected more Irish players through the AFL in the next few years but he added clubs needed to have patience when recruiting youngsters from across the other side of the world.

"The success rate is about one in five, so you've got to be prepared to invest a fair bit to get that one who is going to make it," he said.

"Even if they only make it for a couple of years, you have to look at that and go from a football point of view: Is that enough?"

Stynes said at least six years is needed for an AFL club and an Irish player to make the experiment work.

"There is a fair cost factor of flying people back and forth and recruiters and parents and for the kids too. You don't want them coming out for two years and then going back in three years," he said.

"You've got to be careful that you're looking after their future and welfare as well.”